Raoul Hyman clinched his second victory of the BRDC F4 season in race one on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit today (Saturday), holding off immense pressure from Lanan Racing’s Arjun Maini.

Having secured pole position earlier in the day, Hyman made a great start to hold a lead of almost one second at the end of the opening lap from Maini and Will Palmer who had qualified second and third.

Hyman’s early lead was eroded gradually by Maini, with the pair separated by less than half a second by lap five. Hyman then stretched out a gap of over a second and seemed to have the race in control before Maini came back at him again in the closing laps to run within 0.2 seconds of the South African driver with two laps remaining. Maini threatened but was unable to make a move for the lead, with Hyman doing well to hold off the pressure to take his second win of the year and close George Russell’s championship lead to just one point. Will Palmer completed the podium for HHC Motorsport with a strong drive to third place.

Championship leader George Russell took fourth for Lanan Racing with Sennan Fielding (HHC) and Struan Moore (Lanan) ensuring that HHC Motorsport and Lanan Racing locked out the top six places in the opening race.

Chris Middlehurst claimed seventh for Mark Godwin Racing with Hillspeed’s Gustavo Lima inheriting eighth place and pole for race two, which starts at 11.45am tomorrow, when Diego Menchaca and Nicolas Beer collided on the final corner of the last lap with both failing to reach the flag.

Rodrigo Fonseca took ninth for Douglas Motorsport, with Rahul Mayer completing the top-10 finishers for Hillspeed.

Speaking afterwards, Hyman enthused: “I was pushed hard the entire way by Arjun who drove a great race. Mid way through I got into my stride and we pulled away a bit, which was good – the car was phenomenal, so thanks to the team for that. Mid race I managed the gap quite well but Arjun came back at me towards the end, but I wasn’t that worried because I knew we were quick in the right places so that I wouldn’t be overtaken. I’m really happy, it’s my second win of the year and it’s great for the championship as well.”

Hyman, Maini and Palmer were presented with their trophies on the podium by five time F1 race winner John Watson. Races two and three will start at 11.45 and 16.05 respectively tomorrow, with Lima on pole for the morning contest.

In the championship, George Russell still leads the way with 100 points after four races, with Hyman second on 99. Arjun Maini lies third for Lanan Racing ahead of Diego Menchaca and Will Palmer who both have 71 points. Gustavo Lima completes the top six with 58 points.